There are always loads of recipes I'd like to try but lose them before I do. This is where I can record recipes I find interesting and keep notes on my experiments with them.

I have a system that I've adopted for working through recipes:

1 - New recipes are saved to the Experimental Mouffette and is labeled : Untested
2 - As I'm working out the changes I'd like to make (if any) it is labeled : Testing
3 - Once I think I've got the correct formula it is labeled : Test 1
4 - IF I am able to reproduce the effect a second time it is labeled : Test 2 - if I am not able to reproduce the effect, it remains Test 1
5 - The same process as step 4 is used to graduate it to Test 3
6 - Once I have been able to reproduce the effect successfully 3 times, it graduates to my main blog, La Mouffette Gourmande

European Union visitors, please visit the following link concerning cookies (the computer kind, not he eating kind) Blogger cookies

Monday, July 31, 2017

Untested - Slow Cooked Spiced Lamb Shanks

http://www.epicetoutlacuisinededany.fr/2017/07/souris-d-agneau-confites-aux-epices.html

4 lamb shanks
-Olive oil
-2 large onions
-2 cloves garlic
-3 teaspoons of a mixture of 5 spices (cinnamon, anise, coriander, fennel, cloves)
-1 tablespoon honey
-30 cl of mellow white wine
-50 cl of chicken broth
-Salt pepper

  1. Coat the lamb mice with olive oil using a brush.
  2. Roll them in the spice mixture and set aside 30 min.
  3.  Brown the lamb mice in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a casserole dish.
  4. Add garlic and chopped onions, season with salt and pepper.
  5. Add the honey and pour the wine. Simmer 15 minutes and add chicken broth.
  6. Cover and simmer over very low heat 3 H.

Untested - Mutton with white beans

http://www.cuisineaz.com/recettes/ragout-de-mouton-aux-haricots-blancs-59466.aspx

This requires a three hour cooking time.

1lb dry white beans
2 tomatoes
1 onion
2 cloves
1+1 sprig of thyme
1+1 bay leaf
1/4 cup butter
3 Tbsps oil
10 baby onion
2 lbs of sheep in pieces (necklace, chest, possibly shoulder pieces)
1 Tbsp flour
2 cups of vegetable broth
salt pepper
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 slices bread
Dijon mustard
  1. Prepare the white beans the day before. For this, soak them overnight in a large volume of cold water to rehydrate them.
  2. The next day, drain the beans and put them in a large saucepan or a pot with tomatoes cut into quarters, onion with the cloves poked into it, 1 branch of thyme and a laurel leaf. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil.
  3. After boiling, lower the heat and cook for 1 hour over medium heat. Salt and pepper halfway through cooking.
  4. Meanwhile, heat the butter and oil to brown the pieces of sheep meat (coloring them before going into the stewing process). Once golden brown, remove and set them aside.
  5. In the same pot, fry the skinned baby onions until lightly browned. Remove half of the cooking fat and put the golden sheep meat back into the pot.
  6. Sprinkle the meat with flour while sautéing to cover the meat. Once the flour starts to colour, pour in the vegetable broth and season to taste.
  7. Add the carrot and garlic along with the remaining thyme and laurel leaf. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for another hour.
  8. Once your white beans are cooked, drain them and add them to the meat. Continue cooking the bean stew with the white beans, covered for 1 hour.
  9. Spread mustard on the bread and dip, face-down, in the stew - this gives the whole thing a bit more flavour (although I'm curious to see what actually happens, and if I can just add a little dollop of mustard, instead). Remove before serving.
  10. When cooked, make your stew of white beans in a serving dish or even the casserole for even more conviviality.
  11. This dish prepared the day before and warmed gently the same day is even better.

Untested - Simple Navarin

http://www.epicurien.be/recettes-cuisine/plats/navarin-d-agneau-facile.asp

1.2 kg of lamb neck
1 onion
1 celery stalk
1 bouquet garni
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon flour
Pepper
Fine salt
Fleur de sel

Vegetable filling
1 bunch of new carrots
1 bunch of radishes
1 bunch of turnips
6 minis fennel or 1 fennel
6 mini courgettes
250 g. Of peas
Butter


  1. Peel and chop the onion.
  2. Chop the celery stalk into small pieces
  3. Heat the olive oil over high heat in a casserole dish.
  4. Add the pieces of lamb collar and sear them so that they are golden brown.
  5. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon flour.
  6. Add chopped onion, chopped celery and bouquet garni.
  7. Pour in 40 cl of water.
  8. Salt and pepper generously.
  9. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour.
  10. Wash and remove radishes and turnips.
  11. Peel the new carrots and cut them into sections.
  12. Peel the mini courgettes leaving the skin one row out of 2. Cut them then into 4 sections.
  13. Cut the mini fennels in 4.
  14. After 1 hour of cooking the meat, add carrots, fennel, peas, radishes and turnips.
  15. After 1h30 of cooking, add the pieces of courgettes.
  16. Leave to simmer for 30 minutes.
  17. Add a knob of butter at the end of cooking before serving.
  18. Serve in hollow plates with a piece of meat in the center and generously accompanied with vegetables. Sprinkle with salt flower.

Untested - Braised neck of lamb with red wine, chilli and anchovies

http://www.epicurien.be/blog/recettes/plats-viandes/agneaux/collier-agneaux-braise-vin-rouges-piments-anchois.asp

4 drained and sliced ​​anchovy fillets
2 small fresh red pepper, minced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
125 ml red wine
1.4 kg of lamb collar cut into 8 pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
1 chopped onion
1 tbsp flour
400 g of peeled tomatoes
500 ml of beef broth


  1. In a large salad bowl, prepare a sauce with anchovies, chilies, garlic and wine.
  2. Immerse the meat in it and let it marinate for at least 3 hours in a cool place.
  3. Preheat oven to 170 °.
  4. Heat half the oil in a sauté pan to brown the meat on all sides. Put it in an ovenproof casserole and pour the marinade.
  5. Fry the onion in the frying pan with the remaining oil and then flour and let it brown for about 5 minutes before putting it in the casserole with the peeled tomatoes and broth.
  6. Cover and cook for 30 minutes in the oven.
  7. Remove the lid and degrease the sauce.
  8. Turn over the meat and return to the oven for another 30 minutes.
  9. Divide the meat on the serving plates, cover with the sauce and decorate with the remaining parsley.

Untested - Spring lamb and vegetables

http://www.epicurien.be/blog/recettes/plats-viandes/agneaux/collier-agneaux-braise-vin-rouges-piments-anchois.asp

12 pieces of neck of lamb
1 bunch of new carrots
1 bunch of new turnips
1 bunch of new onions
2 cloves garlic
500 g of fresh peas
300g of gourmet peas
6 candied tomatoes
Some branches of thyme and sage
2 cloves
Olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
Salt
Malabar black pepper from Kerala (Cochin)

  1. Peel the cloves of garlic.
  2. In a cast-iron casserole dish the pieces of lamb in a little olive oil, remove them and discard the fat.
  3. Flour the pieces, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and put the pieces of collar.
  4. Sauté until the pieces color.
  5. At this time, put in the casserole, thyme and sage, cloves of garlic, cloves, candied tomatoes, salt and pepper.
  6. Cover with water and let cook 40 small broths.
  7. Meanwhile, crush the peas and cook them 5 minutes in a saucepan with the butter, 5 cl of water. Book.
  8. Wash the gopurmand peas, carrots and turnips, keep a small piece of vanilla, peel the onions.
  9. Brown onions, turnips, carrots and peas in a pan in olive oil about ¼ hour, they must remain crunchy.
  10. You pour all the vegetables into the cocotte with the meat and you serve.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Lamb stew with juniper berries - FAIL

http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2008/11/juniper-berries.html

1 -  Ben liked this a lot, I was less enthralled. It's a perfectly good stew, but it has a few strikes against it. One is that it does not use significantly different main ingredients from the Irish Mutton Stew recipe I already have, which I like quite a lot. The purpose of the recipes I develop is to have enough variety that uses seasonal and local foods without too much repetition of similar dishes. If this stew had significantly different main ingredients that were available at other times of the year (like asparagus or green beans), it would be worthwhile. Second, I try to avoid use tomato paste in my stews, for no other reason than it is a personal preference (this may change if I start making my own pastes).

1 lb boneless lamb shoulder stew meat, cut into 1" cubes
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsps olive oil
1 large shallot, peeled and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine
2 cups beef broth
3 medium red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into1/2-inch rounds
4 juniper berries
1 bay leaf
  1. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. 
  2. In a heavy stew pot, heat 2 Tbsps olive oil over medium-high heat, and brown the meat on all sides.
  3. With a slotted spoon, transfer meat to a plate. 
  4. Lower heat to medium and sauté shallots and garlic until soft. 
  5. Stir in the flour and cook for two minutes. 
  6. Stir in the tomato paste. 
  7. Add the wine and deglaze the pot, scraping to incorporate the browned bits into the liquid. 
  8. Stir in the beef broth. 
  9. Return meat to pot, adding potatoes, carrots, juniper berries, and bay leaf. 
  10. Bring to the boil, then cover pot and simmer for 2 hours.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Untested - Slow cooked herbed leg of lamb

http://www.epicurien.be/blog/recettes/plats-viandes/agneaux/gigots-agneau-cuisson-basse-temperature-herbes.asp

1 leg of lamb
1 dl white wine
1, 5 dl of olive oil
1 teaspoon of thyme leaves
3 tbsp mint leaves
Fine salt
Pepper of the mill

  1. Chop the mint leaves.
  2. Place the leg of lamb in a deep bowl and pour the herbs, white wine and oil.
  3. Marinate for 3 hours, turning every half hour.
  4. Preheat the oven to 80 ° C, th 3 and place the broiler pan in the oven.
  5. Place the leg of lamb on the fried lick and brown it for 25 minutes without turning it over.
  6. Take out the leg of lamb, salt and wrap it with aluminum foil.
  7. Place the thermo sensor in the middle of the leg and continue to cook for 3 h at 70 ° C, th 2.
  8. Keep the temperature at 60 ° C at the core.
  9. Meanwhile, reduce the juice of the marinade.
  10. At the end of the oven, recover the juice and the cooking juices and incorporate them in the reduction.
  11. Mix and check the seasoning.
  12. Cut the leg of lamb and give a few turns of pepper mill.
  13. Place the slices in a previously heated pat and serve the gravy sauce.